Goddess On The Orient Express
by Madman With a Pen
Summary: "An Egyptian Goddess, loose, on the Orient Express... in space." A story based on the events following the conclusion of The Big Bang, which sees the Doctor, Amy and Rory aboard a luxury space liner, in pursuit of the deadly Sekhmet...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: No, I am not the genius who owns Doctor Who. Yet.**

"Don't worry about a thing, your Majesty. We're on our way!"

And with that, the Doctor had put the phone back down and hurriedly set to work at the TARDIS controls. The engines burst into life with a heavy jolt, making the Doctor, Amy and Rory lurch towards the floor. Amy managed to tear her smiling face away from the rising and falling time rotor for just long enough to exchange an expression of joy and excitement with her new husband. She was still getting used to that. She was married! She had gotten married, managed to bring the TARDIS into the reception, seen the Doctor's dodgy Time Lord dancing and was now off into time and space with her husband. How many newlyweds could say they had done that on their wedding day?

"Where are we going?" Amy asked the Doctor, though she still couldn't bring her gaze away from Rory. "What's the Orient Express in space?"

"Well, it does what it says on the tin!" the Doctor said, whilst setting about the controls, managing their flight. "Great big luxury space liner, based on the Orient Express from Earth, making its way out amongst the stars!"

"And what did you mean an Egyptian Goddess?" Rory asked.

"Ah, well, bit of trouble I'm afraid. The Goddess Sekhmet – should have been sealed into the Seventh Obelisk of Horus, after the fall of the Osirian Dynasty."

"What does that mean?" said Rory, stumped by the Doctor's ramblings.

"The Obelisk was a prison. There were seven layers of locking mechanisms – it was designed to be impossible to escape from, but obviously they didn't do a good enough job."

"But, how can there be an Egyptian Goddess, Doctor? They're just mythology aren't they?" Amy asked, while trying to steady herself as the TARDIS rocked back and forth.

"Well, she's not actually a Goddess, of course. She's a confederate of the Osirians, the basis of Egyptian mythology." the Doctor explained, before yanking on one of the console's levers. The control room jolted violently in response, knocking Amy and Rory to the glass floor.

"Oi! Can you be a bit more careful with the flying? This wedding dress wasn't cheap, y'know!" Amy shouted, as Rory helped her back up.

"Oh, stop complaining, Pond! We're about to land."

"Doctor, the person who phoned… you called them 'Your Majesty'?" Rory commented.

"Empress of the Pyramid Galaxy, currently on board the Orient Express, heading for a visit to Earth to see the resting place of her Galaxy's founding fathers – Egypt!"

With an almighty thud, the engines fell silent and the time machine finally steadied itself.

"We've arrived." the Doctor said quietly, before seemingly filling up with energy and running to the doors.

"Doctor, shouldn't we change first?" Amy called after him.

"Why?" the Doctor asked in a puzzled tone.

"I'm in my wedding dress!"

"Yes; you look lovely. Now, come along Ponds!"

And before Amy or Rory could say another word, the Doctor had bolted out of the doors, into the unknown. Rory flashed an almost apologetic look at Amy, before offering her his hand. She took hold of it, and together they went after the Doctor, boarding the Orient Express. In space.


	2. Chapter 2

As Amy and Rory crossed over the TARDIS's threshold, they were confronted by the sight of the Doctor being greeted by a decoratively clad, regal figure – the Empress of the Pyramid Galaxy. She was human (in appearance, at least) and was wearing a great, golden and sapphire dress, which seemed to swamp her tall yet slender physique. Her skin was slightly tanned and her long dark hair, streaked with gold, cascaded down past her shoulders. On her head, serving almost as a crown was a gold and white hat of a style that was familiar to Amy and Rory, filling them with a worry as to the Doctor's response.

"See!" the Doctor said to them, gesturing to the cylindrical headwear, "Her majesty here is wearing a fez! Fezzes are cool!"

The empress gave a small, almost inaudible laugh at the Doctor's comments.

"Please, Doctor, how many times do I need to tell you there's no need for formalities such as 'her majesty'? Call me Sal!"

"Ooh, Doctor, on first name terms with royalty now?" Amy said a little teasingly.

"Yes, well, me and the Empress go way back, don't we Sal?" the Doctor said in his bumbling, rambling way.

"Indeed we do. And of course, your new friends must address me the same way."

"Er, are you sure we shouldn't call you 'your majesty'?" Rory asked. "Or, at least your full name, rather than a nickname… I'm assuming Sal is short for something?"

"My full first name," the Empress said in her elegant tones, clearing her throat a little, "is Sallah-metrakehlotrep-filliah-sehmet if you wish to call me by it."

"I think we'll stick to Sal." Rory conceded. The Empress gave another of her quiet laughs in response.

"I don't think my parents liked me very much." she said, in something of a mock whisper.

"Well, with all due respect, Sal, your parents were the butchers of seventeen star systems. Your father was one of the most feared emperors to have ever lived in this quadrant of the universe!" the Doctor said, without quite the amount of tact he should have. "Thank God you're not like them."

"Thank the God_s_, Doctor." Sal corrected him.

"Oh, of course, sorry. Ancient Egyptian religion."

"And it is a very important religious issue upon which I bring you here, Doctor." the Empress said, her tone growing evermore serious.

"Yes. Well, you say religious; I say a matter involving a pan-dimensional Osirian-descended solar-form. But, yes, important."

The ornately decorated interior of the Orient Express space liner boasted detailed panelling adorning the walls in all glistening tones of bronze and gold. The floors to the corridors that Amy, Rory, the Doctor, the Empress and her guards were now walking down were a shining marble-black. Elements of train carriage designs were still hinted at – the doors were of a similar style, there was that same old curvature to the roof, similar lights, similar chairs; even the on-board assistants wore the same uniform as the people that worked on the original Orient Express. Except, of course, the original Orient Express employees were humans rather than silver-plated androids. Other than these few hints of the steam-train design, though, there was very little similarity. Everything was so much bigger, so much grander, on the space liner. The ceilings towered high above the passengers, with vast chandeliers hanging from them. Rather than small, cramped walkways, the corridors were vast, sweeping structures. The whole place felt more like a floating palace than a train – Amy was certainly glad she didn't have to pay for this trip.

The Doctor was walking alongside the Empress at the front of the group, talking in hurried tones, half catching up on each other since they had last met and half filling each other in on the current situation.

"You've changed your face again, Doctor."

"Ah, yes! How did you know it was me?"

"Big blue box is a bit of a giveaway."

"Oh. Yeah. Just as well I don't fix that chameleon circuit."

"Who are your new friends then?"

"Amy and Rory Pond!"

"And, whilst I may expect an eccentric dress sense of you, Doctor, why are you all dressed like that?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention – it's Amy and Rory's wedding night! Sort of… in a way… wibbly wobbly timey wimey… you can't keep up!"

The Empress cast a smile back at Amy and Rory over her shoulder.

"Congratulations!" she said politely, before turning back to the Doctor.

"So, Sal, do tell – how can Sekhmet possibly have broken free from the Seventh Obelisk?"

"We don't know yet, Doctor. But she has and she is here. By the time we realised she had escaped it was already too late."

"And now she's heading for Egypt, on Earth… funny." the Doctor's voice trailed off into his sea of thoughts and ideas.

"Funny?"

"Egypt, the country that originally worshipped the Osirians and their confederates as Gods and Goddesses. Sekhmet is an Egyptian Goddess and she's going, for want of a better word, home."

The Empress exchanged a concerned look with the Time Lord.

"What are you saying this means?" she asked him in a voice quiet enough for nobody else to hear.

"I don't know. Yet." he replied, in an equally quiet tone. "But never ignore a coincidence."

There was a few seconds' silence, the group all slowly coming to a halt, as the Doctor stopped walking. He was looking around the extravagant space-liner, his restless gaze buzzing across every detail.

"Doctor… what's wrong?" Amy asked, whilst Rory looked around as well, following the Doctor's gaze.

"Can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"Like it just got very slightly… colder."

As soon as the words had left his lips, all the light within the ship vanished. The corridors and endless rooms were plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the distant silver shine of the stars and galaxies visible through the many long windows.

"What just happened?" Rory stammered.

"Sekhmet's draining the lights. She is here. And she's hungry."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do we do now?" Rory asked.

"We must find Sekhmet, before her hunger grows." the Empress explained, now squinting through the sudden darkness cast across the ship's intricate interior.

"Why? What happens then?"

"She feasts on the most readily available source of food: us!"

Amy and Rory turned to each other, just able to make out one another's fear-ridden features through the dark. It was Amy who broke the ghostly silence.

"Okay, so we need to find her. How do we do that?"

"Well," said the Doctor, "she is an incredibly powerful, godlike, pan-dimensional solar-form. And, to be fair, you don't get many of those around. Can't be that hard to find. Come along, Ponds!"

And with that, he was heading down the darkened corridor, the Empress behind him, Rory and Amy following behind her, both slightly uncertain of what lay ahead.

"Doctor, can I not get changed first?" Amy pleaded. "I'm still in my wedding dress!"

"There's nothing wrong with the dress, Pond, I don't know what you're so worried about! And we don't have the time to waste, so come on!"

With an irritated sigh, through clenched teeth, Amy hurried her pace, keeping up with the others as they moved past barely visible sets of doors. Several cabins were starting to open, people peering out, wondering what was going on and what had happened to the lights.

As they reached a set of vast double doors at the end of the corridor, glimmers of light started to return. Luminous strips that ran along either side of the corridor floor were now casting a dull, orange glow upon the corridors.

"Ah! Emergency lighting! Lovely!" the Doctor commented, pressing himself against the double doors that were in front of them. He pushed his ear to their polished wooden surface and knocked lightly on it, moving his fist across different points of the door. "Right, sounds safe to me."

"Sounds safe?" Rory repeated. "How can it sound safe?"

"Well, it's easy, Rory, it just doesn't sound dangerous. Obviously. The doors have been locked though – Sekhmet trying to seal herself off from us. Still, nothing a sonic screwdriver can't handle!"

Quickly brandishing the sonic, the Doctor pointed it at the embedded golden lock. It did cross his mind that it was lucky the lock was made of metal – if it had been wooden like the rest of the door, they could have ended up quite stuck.

With a heavy 'clunk' the lock fell open and the Doctor pushed against the door. The room within was obviously the ship's equivalent of a dining carriage. It was lavished with large tables covered by pristine white cloths. Plates and glasses were still sat on some of the tables, some of them still holding the remains of meals.

"It's empty." the Empress said, examining the room. "There should be staff in here, cleaning up. Why is it empty?"

"The staff were androids, weren't they?" the Doctor asked, somehow already distanced from the rest of the group and looking around the room.

"Yes. So?"

"Sekhmet drained the power – not just the lights, everything."

"But, I saw those androids earlier." said Amy. "They weren't plugged in or anything, how did she drain them?"

"Imagine every bit of electricity in this ship is like a little lump of metal and Sekhmet's like a giant magnet."

"Right…"

"Well, it's nothing like that. But if it helps, yeah, it's like that."

Turning his attention to the far side of the room, the Doctor dashed over to the long buffet counter and leapt over it, his dinner jacket's long coattails sailing through the air behind him. Landing on the other side of the counter, he was suddenly crouched down, examining something – one of the androids was lying there, having collapsed on the floor. Its glistening silver skin caught elongated reflections of the low lighting now being cast throughout the train, and the shirt and waistcoat it wore were a stark contrast to its manufactured face-plate. The Doctor quickly ran the sonic over it, conducting a quick scan.

"All intact. System's still there, should be able to reboot, just need the power. Emergency lighting probably won't last long either..." Suddenly he was stood up again, striding towards the next set of doors, to the rest of the space liner. "Come on! No time to lose and all that jazz!"

He was almost at the dining room's far set of doors, the others trailing after him, when a metallic clicking seized their attention.

"Doctor, what's that?" the Empress asked.

"I've got the most horrible feeling it's exactly what I think it is…"

"Which is what?" Amy demanded.

"Sekhmet took the power out of the androids – now she's just replacing it."

"Replacing it with what?"

"Herself." No sooner had the word left the Doctor's mouth, than four androids, dressed in smart waiters' uniforms, were stood behind the group. Their pose was no longer contained and subservient, but rather more militaristic. Their faces were blank, curved silver, save for the two perfectly circular luminous eyes, which now shone with a burning red gleam. Below their crimson glares, at the bottom of their not-quite-human heads, each had a speaker that served as a mouth, built in the shape of a wide grin. The design was there to help the robots appear friendly to passengers, but now that they were in Sekhmet's power, its effect was more that of a clown frightening a child.

"Why do I get the feeling this is not good?" Rory asked, his voice shaking.

"Because it is not good." the Doctor answered. "It is extremely very not good. Sekhmet's controlling them and she's not a goddess renowned for her caring nature."

"Yeah, Ancient Egypt was never a strong subject of mine." Amy said, whilst slowly backing away from the androids. "Tell me, what was Sekhmet the goddess of?"

"Well, the good news is she's the goddess of healing."

"What's the bad news?"

"She's also the goddess of war and destruction."

With a sudden burst of unexpected agility, one of the androids had leapt high into the air, cruising over the Doctor and the others, before landing between them and the exit. Its firm metal soles issued an echoing crash as they hit the floor.

The other three were moving in too, slowly, containing the Doctor and his friends.

"It's a trap." the Empress realised.

"Yes, Sal, obviously it's a trap, but traps aren't a problem. The problem is getting out of them." the Doctor noted. "And, to be honest, as traps go, this one could be worse."

"How?"

The emergency lighting flickered out. The room was in complete darkness, apart from the fiery red stares of the androids.

"Well, for a start, like that." the Doctor commented flatly.

"Now what?" Amy's voice hissed through the pitch black air.

"Well, they can most probably see us. Night vision built in. Luckily we can see them too, because of their eyes. But what they can see that we can't see are the tables and things that might get in the way if we run."

"So what do we do?"

"We run!" And with that, the Doctor bolted his way through the dining room, darting past the group of robots. He pulled the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, flicking the button on with his thumb. "Follow the sonic!"

"How do you know you won't run into a table or something?" Rory called back.

"I've got a very good memory of this room's layout and I'm picking out as safe a path as I can. It's this, or death by androids!"

Drawing deep breaths, without considering the insanity of what they were doing, Rory, Amy and the Empress ran in the direction of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, its light the only helpful bit of luminosity in the room.

The androids blazing glares fell upon the group.

"Enemies of Sekhmet will suffer the pain of death." the androids said in unison, before adding, "We apologise for the inconvenience." Their voices were still their usual, programmed polite tones, sounding too kind and helpful to carry the messages Sekhmet was forcing to their artificial voice boxes.

The lights of the androids' eyes were suddenly gliding towards the group, each android taking a different route. One pair of eyes suddenly rose a few feet into the air, as the unseen robot marched across a table top, dead set on the group's location.

"Doctor, I hope have you a plan!" the Empress said fearfully.

"I'm working on it!" came the Doctor's reply. They were all slowly making their way back through the room, carefully feeling their way around tables and chairs, keeping as much distance as possible between themselves and the rapidly advancing androids. The Doctor's voice rambled on through the dark as he brainstormed with himself. "Dining room, kitchen, kitchen means ovens, ovens cook things, they use heat, the heat comes from the fire, fire means light, but to start the fire we need power, if we had power we wouldn't be running through the dark…"

"But emergency power systems charge themselves, using the ship's own movement." the Empress explained from somewhere in the thick darkness. "They can't produce much power, and they only turn on when they've generated enough to last at least an hour, but they're constantly generating energy and the ovens would only need a few seconds of power…"

"So if I can connect the ovens to the emergency power supply for a second, we can get some light in here! Sal, you're a genius!"

And suddenly the Doctor was running across the room, the light of the sonic visibly dodging, weaving and jumping over tables with its owner, until he got to where the buffet table was, its metal surface just visibly reflected in the green glow. The Doctor swerved around the table and ran to the ovens that were sat behind it. He turned round, trying to make out any of the others in the darkened room, but all he could see were four pairs of round red eyes. All heading towards him.

Turning back to the ovens, he ducked down, finding the power connections between them and the wall, and gave them a blast of the sonic screwdriver.

"That should jolt the system just enough to find the emergency power…"

He was standing again, making adjustments to the settings on the ovens by the light of the sonic.

"Okay, we are good to go!"

"Doctor, are you sure about this?" the Empress called out.

"Of course not!" he shouted back.

The sonic was resting in his hand, its light now extinguished. His sharp gaze was staring at all that was visible in the room – the illuminated stares of the four approaching androids.

"The Doctor will suffer a most painful death, in the name of the great Sekhmet. We apologise for the inconvenience." One of them chanted in its unsuitably friendly voice.

"Not today, fellers."

The Doctor pressed the button on the sonic. A wave of fire exploded from the ovens, the shockwave rushing past the Doctor, as he stood, perfectly still, facing the oncoming group of robots. The blazing inferno was now casting a warm glow across the room. "Let there be light."

"What did you do to those ovens?" Rory asked, his voice a yell to be hear above the violent crackling of flames.

"Spiced them up a bit, shut down the safety mechanisms!"

The Doctor quickly flung the sonic from one hand to the other and held it out to the doors on the far side of the room. After a quick buzz, there was an audible click, signalling the doors unlocking.

"Run! Get out!" the Doctor shouted to the others. The Empress led Amy and Rory, the three of them bustling quickly through the double doors that had just been unlocked. The Doctor remained where he was, facing the androids.

"Now, you lot, you're directly linked to Sekhmet, correct?"

"Correct." Still that same polite tone.

"So, just wondering, where is she?"

"Sekhmet's location must remain classified. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused."

"Yeah, so I gathered. Okay then, androids, tell me – how's the driver doing?"

"On Sekhmet's behalf, we regret to inform you that the Orient Express Space Liner's pilot is alive and well."

"So Sekhmet hasn't reached the cockpit yet. Thank you!"

And then the Doctor was running again, faster than even the androids could register, as he ducked past them and into the main dining area. The androids swivelled round, each one holding out an arm, pointing at the Doctor. Bright red blasts of energy were suddenly surging from their fingertips, streaming after the Doctor, colliding with tables, chairs and walls. Every collision created a burst of sparks and debris, thickening the air in the room with smoke and dust. But the Doctor was ahead of their onslaught, already approaching the exit. He leapt over one of the tables, sending a couple of plates crashing to the floor, and then bolted through the double doors. Before he could take in his surroundings, he had slammed the door shut and locked it with the sonic.

"Who decided that waiters would need to be able to fire lasers?" he heard Amy asking.

"Sekhmet. Apparently."

Convinced that the doors were locked tight, the Doctor turned round to face the stretch of corridor that now lay ahead of him. It was lined with the doors to cabins, passages leading off to separate corridors and a few little shops clustered at the far end. The emergency lighting had still not been restarted, but the whole area was lit by a gentle throb of golden light, seeping through the door at the far end of the corridor.

"What's through there?" Rory asked, eyeing the door suspiciously.

"The main reception, I think." the Empress answered.

"Yeah, but the lighting's down…" said the Doctor. "So what's glowing on the other side?"

Before any of them could answer, the Doctor was already halfway down the corridor. The others exchanged anxious glances, before turning and heading after him. It took only a few seconds to cover the length of the corridor, despite its vast size – the Doctor seemed to have the effect of making people speed up without them realising it. As they reached the door, the Doctor placed the sonic against its lock and activated it. The lock clicked. The door swung ajar. They were in.

The Doctor pushed the door wide open, and the sight that met their eyes made every one of their hearts skip a beat. Everyone's mouth hung open, sound stolen from their lips by a rush of shock. The Doctor broke the silence.

"Sekhmet."


	4. Chapter 4

A golden blaze was bursting outwards in every direction from the figure that stood in front of them. The thick, shining rays were all emanating from a golden disk on her headdress. The light swam around the disk in every direction, forming a perfect orb of pure luminosity atop Sekhmet's inhuman head – the only part of her tall yet elegant figure that did not appear human. Her skin was a tanned bronze and held a slight metallic sheen which was accentuated in the fearsome glare of light that shone from her ornate golden crown. An intricate collar of blue and gold hung from her neck, and her body, which was levitating about a foot above the floor, was shrouded in a long red and white robe with a golden seam. Above her godlike, perfect human features, Sekhmet's head provided a vicious contrast – it was that of a lioness. The face held a strange, animalistic beauty, yet her eyes blazed a fiercely violent blood red. Long black hair hung from the back of the bestial head, tumbling halfway down the goddess's back and fanning gently outwards, as though caught in a sharp breeze.

"You dare approach me?" her voice thundered through the small lobby area. It was a shrill, harsh voice, but every word seemed to be underlined with a much deeper echo.

"Sekhmet…" the Empress whispered, unable to say much more, barely still able to breathe.

"Yes." the Doctor said happily, confidently, the awe of the situation apparently having passed in his mind. "Yes, we do dare approach you, Sekhmet. Bit of a stupid question, really – if we didn't dare approach you, we wouldn't be here right now! So, tell me, what are you doing on the Orient Express in Space?"

"You know it's called the Orient Express Space Liner…" the Empress muttered to the Doctor.

"I prefer Orient Express in Space." he replied cheerfully, before turning back to Sekhmet. "Now, Egyptian Goddess on the Orient Express in Space – why?"

"I must return."

"Return? Return where?"

"I must return!" Sekhmet repeated in her roaring voice.

"Okay, this space liner's going to Egypt, I take it you mean return there. How long has it been since you even went to Egypt? It's not like you actually come from there…"

"The graveyard is the key to my new homeland." Sekhmet stated calmly. Her unthreatening tone seemed somehow worse than her thunderous shouts, like the calm before the storm.

"What does that mean? What graveyard? What new homeland?"

"Who are you to question me, Time Lord?" Sekhmet hissed, her crimson glare suddenly falling upon the Doctor. "I am a God, risen above all pathetic mortal life. Even the long dead, noble and proud race of the Time Lords is miniscule, compared to me. Your species may have thought themselves to be as great as the Gods and lavished that title upon themselves, but they are nothing."

"Have you forgotten that you're not really a goddess? You're a living breathing thing, just like any one of us."

"You will wither. You will grow old and life will leave your bodies behind. I am immortal. I am unending. I am the bringer of destruction, but I shall never receive its harsh blow."

"Hey! Listen…" The voice was Amy's. "Nice to have had this chat and everything, but what do you want?"

"To live." Sekhmet replied shortly.

"That doesn't sound so bad…"

"And to watch the lives of all others crushed and destroyed in my almighty, unforgiving, violent bloodlust."

"Okay." said Amy, wide-eyed in horror. "Maybe that does sound bad…"

"Yeah, could really do without being crushed by a goddess!" Rory whispered through clenched teeth.

"How did you escape the Seventh Obelisk?" the question was asked in a firm, direct tone, by the Empress.

"Your devices cannot hold a Goddess!" Sekhmet roared.

"The obelisk was designed specifically to hold a 'Goddess.'" said the Doctor. "Seven layers of the most advanced locking mechanisms in the known universe. Time locks, deadlocks, quantum fields, space loops – how did you escape that?"

"The key can unlock all, including your pathetic mortal prisons."

"What key?" the Doctor asked. "You said before, the graveyard was the key to your new homeland – is that what you mean?"

"The graveyard is the key." Sekhmet confirmed.

"What graveyard?"

"The graveyard is the key."

"Why do you Gods have to be so difficult? Why couldn't we have had the goddess of simplicity?"

"Blasphemies will be punished, Doctor!"

"Well, I tell you what, give this ship its power back, let everyone on board live and then you can smite me, or crush me or whatever it is you Egyptian Goddesses do."

"The mortals are merely my subjects. The energy they produce belongs to me, to run like blood in my veins."

"But, the ship needs power to fly." said Rory. "If you want to get to Egypt, you need the ship to keep flying."

"Foolish mortal!" hissed Sekhmet. "I have commanded this vessel to continue its journey. My word controls all matter within your realms."

"Then land this ship safely, and leave everyone on board alone." the Doctor ordered. "You don't need them!"

"Doctor, I am Goddess of Destruction. I must crush all that lies before me. It is my purpose, my life, my desire, my joy, my right and my responsibility. This space liner will arrive, but it will not land."

"Again with the riddles?" Amy moaned.

"Not a particularly difficult one though, Pond." the Doctor said. "We're going to crash. Sekhmet's going to crash the Orient Express!"

"All life on this vessel will perish in sacrifice for my new empire!"

"Okay, this is one of those really very not good things." the Doctor whispered.

"Er, Doctor? Look…" Amy pointed up at a flickering screen, hanging from a wall behind Sekhmet.

On the screen were the words 'TIME UNTIL ARRIVAL: 8 MINUTES'.

"Okay… okay… very, very not good indeed!" the Doctor looked around him, his eyes desperately searching the ship for something, anything, a way out. "Amy, Rory, Sal… with me!"

He turned, ran from the lobby, the others following him. In seconds they had darted back down the corridor they had come up, and reached the double doors that led back to the dining hall.

"Doctor, where are we going?" Amy asked.

"Back to the TARDIS!" he said, whilst sonicking at the lock in front of them.

"Have you forgotten about the killer robot waiters?" Rory hissed.

"Ah. Yes. That." He quickly locked the doors again with the sonic, and dropped it back into his pocket. "Okay, this way!"

He ran over to a corridor leading around the dining hall, but before he had even reached its opening, the sound of metal footsteps was ringing out from the far end.

"Doctor, are there more of those things?" Amy asked, her voice audibly panicked.

"Robot workers all over this ship. Sekhmet has control over all of them. Okay… we'll need to try something different."

After a split second's pause he turned back and ran once again back the way they had come, heading towards the lobby where Sekhmet was. The Empress was quick to follow, Rory and Amy just behind her, exchanging a worried look.

Bursting through the door to the lobby, the Doctor greeted Sekhmet with a grin.

"Hello again! Sorry, bit of trouble with those robots of yours. Well, they're not yours, but you're controlling them now, which is, if I'm honest, being a bit of a bad sport on your part."

"All mortal possessions are mine!" Sekhmet thundered.

"Have to disagree on that one. Anyway, if you'll excuse me…"

He ran past her, as Amy, Rory and the Empress bustled through the door. Jumping up onto the desk, the Doctor pointed the sonic at the high-mounted screen. The time to arrival flickered away, replaced by a basic schematic of the ship.

"You've fired off all the escape pods!"

"My victory is to be most thorough, Doctor. None will survive."

"But," the Doctor said, grinning, "there's something you haven't gotten rid of, which is even more useful to me than an escape pod right now."

"What do you mean, Time Lord?"

But the Doctor was already gone, dashing up the stairs at the back of the lobby and disappearing through a doorway.

"Doctor!" Amy called out, before running up after him, Rory behind her and the Empress following both of them.

They ran through the same door as the Doctor, Sekhmet's inhuman gaze silently following them.

Beyond the doorway they found a long, narrow corridor, the walls lined with doors, and no sign of the Doctor.

"Where did he go?" Rory asked nobody in particular.

"Rory Pond, I'm right here!"

They all turned round, to see the Doctor stood a short distance behind them in the corridor. And their eyes instantly fell on what he was wearing. Covering his suit, he now wore a thick, glistening navy blue overall, which was lined with metallic pipes and straps. The collar was a large metallic ring, and he was had large metal boots on. Under his arm he was carrying a large, grey metal helmet.

"Doctor, is that a…"

"It's a spacesuit!" the Doctor said, beaming. "I'm taking a trip outside."


	5. Chapter 5

Emerging from a hatch in the ship's roof, the Doctor clambered onto the top of the vast space-liner. The design was beautifully impressive – a glistening gold, bullet-shaped vessel with hints of steam-punk and steam-train in its design. Dark metal railings ran across the curvature of the ship at irregular intervals and large, circular windows were set into the slightly-flattened roof.

"Doctor!"

It was Amy's voice, crackling through a radio built in to the Doctor's helmet.

"Pond! How are you talking to me?"

"The Empress found a radio… thingy, in the room with the spacesuits. What's the situation up there?"

"Well, it all looks clear." the Doctor observed. "All I've got to do is walk to the other end of the ship, open the other hatch, drop in and get into the TARDIS. How hard can it be?"

As soon as he had spoken the words, he heard the heavy metallic noise of two more hatches opening behind him. From within the ship, two of the android waiters emerged.

"Okay…" said the Doctor, "could be a bit harder than I thought."

"The divine order of Sekhmet commands that you are destroyed." stated one of the androids. "We apologise for the inconvenience."

The Doctor turned from the androids, the other end of the ship lying dead ahead of him. He broke into as fast a run as he could manage – the suit kept him weighted down, ensuring he didn't float off into the abyss of space, but also stopping him from reaching full speed. The androids, with their magnetised feet, did not have the same problem.

The Doctor could just about hear them approaching, but they were invisible to him – the helmet obliterated his peripheral vision. He kept his concentration on running, not letting the threat of the androids get to him. He just had to reach the hatch; it was almost in sight…

Thud!

He hit the ground, an android on his back, its steel grip crushing into his shoulder, forcing a cry of pain from the Time Lord's mouth.

"Get off me!" he yelled, still unable to see his robotic assailant. One of the Doctor's arms was outstretched, clawing at the shining surface beneath him; the other was desperately trying to grab at the android.

"The Orient Express must crash and all passengers will die. You may not prevent this. We apologise for the inconvenience."

The thought of the passengers, the lives at stake, Amy and Rory, all suddenly hit the Doctor. With one, triumphant push against the roof, he suddenly forced himself up, sending the android careering back, colliding with its twin.

He didn't waste time. Back on his feet, the Doctor ran for the other end of the ship. It wasn't that far and he was not about to give up. He leapt over one of the huge windows in the roof, the low-gravity carrying him the whole distance. Landing on the other side, all that remained between him and the next entrance hatch was one more window. He could make it now. He wasn't going to be stopped.

The thundering pace of metal feet suddenly rang out from behind him. He turned instinctively, and was greeted by an android knocking him down. His head rattled painfully against the sides of the helmet, his vision blurring – he could just make out the metal fist slamming into the glass visor of his helmet.

The shards were instantly lost to the depths of space, and the Doctor was gasping at air that wasn't there. He would have to act quickly – Time Lord lungs were capable of retaining air for a good deal longer than humans', but he feared it wouldn't be long enough. His gloved fingers quickly undid a pouch on the side of the spacesuit's right leg, and he pulled out the sonic screwdriver.

"Bye-bye!"

Aiming the screwdriver at the android's feet, he activated it. The magnetisation shut down. Before it could apologise for the inconvenience, the robot had disappeared into the dark sky. The Doctor quickly looked back down the ship – at the other end, he could see Earth speeding into view and the second android running towards him.

Taking aim with the sonic, he shut down the electro-magnets on the second android's feet, but this one was expecting it. The instant the Doctor had activated the sonic, it had leapt down to the ground and grabbed onto one of the railings running across the ship's exterior. It started crawling towards the Doctor, using the railings like the rungs of a ladder – it had been slowed down, but not stopped.

Scrambling back to his feet, the Doctor ran for his destination. He could hear Amy's voice in his ear, but couldn't make out what she was saying. The helmet wasn't doing him any good at all and so he quickly unclipped it from the collar, letting it fly off into space. His breath was becoming desperate, strained and rugged. He was stumbling more than running, his vision still not quite perfect – the oxygen starvation wasn't helping.

A few more unsteady steps and he had reached the next window. Only a little distance to go, only a little further…

He fell down, his body slamming against the thick glass. Beneath him, all he could see was a dim blur of colour from within the ship. He grabbed frantically at the panes of glass, trying to drag himself forward – but it was no use. He collapsed against the window, shaking, his body wracked with the effort of attempting to breathe. The android was approaching; he could hear its pace quickening.

He was still holding the sonic. One last chance.

The Doctor brought the screwdriver up to the glass, pressing it against the transparent surface. He forced the button down, starting the green glow and familiar buzzing. A small crack appeared in the glass and slowly started to spread. The android was approaching, and had almost reached the Doctor by the time the whole window had been turned into a spider's web of splintered glass.

Releasing the button on the sonic, the Doctor made one final effort to raise his arm. He was weak, on the point of losing consciousness, but he was so close now…

He brought his arm crashing down, smashing the glass from its frame. As it gave way, he fell through and into the room below. He was too busy gasping at the air to notice the surprised looks he was getting from scared passengers, or to see the android being crushed by the closing blast-door over where the window had been.

Amy and Rory were stood with the Empress, desperately speaking into the radio device. There had been no response for a while now. They had no idea what had happened to the Doctor.

"There are more spacesuits…" Rory said. "Perhaps I should go after him."

"No." Amy insisted. "He'll be okay. He's always okay."

"Amy…"

Before either of them could say any more, they were interrupted by an echoing, groaning noise behind them. Turning slowly, they saw the familiar shape of the TARDIS materialise. With a soft creak, the door suddenly opened and Doctor appeared in the threshold, back in his suit from the wedding, the spacesuit now gone.

"Right! Sal, Ponds, hurry up and get in the TARDIS! We've got about a minute until this ship reaches the Earth's atmosphere!"


End file.
